The Signal adds online post

Buttelman returns as paper’s features editor

Jim Walker has assumed the duties of Webcast producer and Michele Buttelman has returned as features editor as The Signal ramps up its Web site coverage while retaining its focus on local news.

“I’m back where I belong,” said Buttelman, who had helmed The Signal’s specialty publications department and SCV Living magazine until this month.

A 20-year veteran of the Los Angeles Times, Buttelman joined The Signal staff as education reporter in 1999 and became features editor within a year.

Buttelman, who writes the SCV Scene column in the Sunday Signal, has won awards for her column writing from the Los Angeles Press Club and the Society of Professional Journalists.

Walker, previously The Signal’s features editor, brings to his new job experience in both acting and producing for television and movies.

A Hollywood extra for five years, Walker appeared in “Will and Grace.” “CSI Las Vegas” and “Wedding Crashers” (the funeral scene), among others.

He produced educational videos for three years, including earth science and biology programs for Schlessenger Media and three “Shark Chasers” shows for the Travel Channel, filmed in South Africa, the Bahamas and off the coast of Costa Rica.

“I wanted to be like Jacques Cousteau,” Walker said wryly, noting that his bachelor’s degree in biology, if not the one in psychology, served him well in the role.

Already organizing a studio for The Signal, Walker said he’s excited about the new role at the newspaper.

“With all the emphasis on multimedia these days, it seems this job has real potential for personal growth while at the same time benefiting The Signal,” he said. “I intend to make The Signal’s Web site irresistible with the addition of more and better videos.”

Walker joins Web veteran Stephen K. Peeples, who as online editor has an extensive background in journalism, the music industry and new media.

Peeples is a Grammy nominee for his 1992 “Monterey International Pop Festival” boxed CD set and an award-winning radio writer/producer (“The Lost Lennon Tapes.”).